Crosswalk.com aims to offer the most compelling biblically-based content to Christians on their walk with Jesus. Crosswalk.com is your online destination for all areas of Christian Living – faith, family, fun, and community. Each category is further divided into areas important to you and your Christian faith including Bible study, daily devotions, marriage, parenting, movie reviews, music, news, and more.

Miss USA (almost)

By now the whole inhabited world, by which I mean those who watch TV
and follow the Internet, knows about Carrie Prejean who almost became
Miss USA the other night but ended up in second place presumably
because of how she answered a question from a strange fellow named
Perez Hilton about gay marriage. Although Miss Prejean’s answer was not
a model of clarity (pageant answers generally being of the “I favor
world peace” variety), she was clear enough in defending the
traditional view of marriage as being one man and one woman.

Last
night I watched her interview with Sean Hannity. Miss Prejean comes
across as a sincere 21-year-old who decided that it was better to be
true to her faith even if it meant losing the Miss USA crown. Well,
good for her. We need Christians who will not sell out their
convictions or mumble a bunch of politically correct nonsense.

She is, by the way, a student at San Diego Christian College, formerly Christian Heritage College, founded by (among others) Tim LaHaye and the late Henry Morris.

A few quick notes about the controversy . . .

1.
If you watch the video carefully, you can hear loud clapping when she
gave her answer. That reinforces the notion that many people do not
support gay marriage. Even in liberal California, Proposition 8 won
last November.

2. We shouldn’t be surprised that Miss Prejean has
been pilloried by the mainstream media. Anyone who dares to speak out
in favor of traditional values will run the same gauntlet.

3.
Nevertheless by keeping her cool under enormous pressure, she gains
support from millions of people. And if she had caved and given some
mumbo-jumbo answer, she might have won the pageant and would have
disappeared from the cultural radar. Better in this case to speak your
convictions firmly and politely and leave the results in God’s hands.

4.
She illustrates the need for Christians with tenacious, winsome
courage. Tenacious meaning we won’t give up. Courage meaning we speak
out when the time comes. Winsome meaning we speak with a smile, not a
frown.

5. When asked about controversial matters, we would all do
well to take the “Joe Friday” approach: “Just the facts, Ma’am.” Brief
is better. Just say what you believe, don’t make a big deal about it,
and don’t try to explain it or nuance it. Short and simple with a smile
wins the day.

6. Ironically, Miss Prejean won by losing. That often happens when we respond to provocation with grace under pressure.

One
final point, which I hesitate to mention because it injects an unhappy
note into the proceedings. Nearly all the news reports show the video
of Miss Prejean in an extremely skimpy white bikini that all the
pageant contestants were required to wear. It looked like sexy
underwear, which is how it was supposed to look.

I guess by now
we’re all supposed to be used to this sort of thing and think nothing
of it. But still it bothered me. I wouldn’t want my daughters parading
in public dressed like that. Hmmm. I sound like those old-time
preachers, don’t I? But I think they were more right than wrong about
stuff like this.

While that part doesn’t help the cause, I am
happy to commend Miss Prejean for sticking up for what she believes. By
speaking out in favor of traditional marriage, she took a strong stand in
favor of the truth, and for that she deserves our applause.